Tyrannical chicken endangering my new addition!

[Aequacheek]

I'm a new chicken owner, only started last year so everything is hard right now lol.
I've recently added a rescue adult chicken, Beatrice, to my flock of 3. I know adding them in pair is easier but legally I can only have 4 so that was my limit. I've read about it beforehand and tried to do the right thing to prevent her having a bad time and mostly the top girls have accepted her, but the one who was at the bottom before her is acting like a raging psychopath. She's a small ISA Brown and was always the timid one. We have a large winter coop and a smaller summer coop that we can move around the yard. We let both coops open so my new one can always have a spot to sleep away from the bully, but yesterday for the second time we lost Beatrice. The bully will bar her from entering the coop she's in, and depending on the hour I guess she might have been too blinded by darkness to find the other coop. First time we found her but yesterday we couldn't and had a tense night hoping she wouldn't get eaten. Luckily she was found this morning. But I don't know how to deal with the bully. What would you experienced ladies and gents do about it?

 

[petserama]

If you can, get a rooster, they will protect the girls!
This one time, a hawk was on top of my chicken coop and the girls were inside. The rooster was squawking loud enough and I went to check.
Roosters will also break up fights between hens.


But if you can't get a rooster, separate the psycho chicken from the others, keep her in a large fenced area with food and water. Best of luck with your situation!

 

[Eelantha]

I've been having the same situation with my own chickens... One of my hens went broody and had chicks. I've let mama hen raise her babies in a 'see, but don't touch' situation, with a fence keeping the growing family separate from the rest of the flock in the coop. A month and a half after that, when it became clear mama hen wouldn't tolerate separation from the flock any longer (pacing back and forth along the fence from dawn to dusk), I introduced her to each of the other hens in a 1 vs 1 meeting where she would have better chances of winning their fights to re-establish the pecking order. 5 defeated hens later, including the dominant lady of the moment, mama hen became the new alpha hen, and all of the flock gave her and her chicks a wide berth, thus ensuing their safety.... all of them, but one.

My shy, timid, bottom-of-the-pecking order and supposedly well-mannered Plymouth Rock. Who, at the sight of the chicks in her environment, went from a nice girl to a dangerous and persistent bully. The kind who watches, bids her time, subtly ambles closer to the family and pecks hard at the chicks the instant one of them wanders less than a foot away from mama's legs while her back is turned in the other direction. I've also seen her downright dive between the legs of the busy-to-eat mother to attack the chicks, striking from mama's blind spot. And if one of the babies had the misfortune to get separated from mommy, my Plymouth would downright run after it all over the run and coop--and get the rest of the flock running after the chick too, despite my rooster's attempts to keep things under control. In short, that hen did not like chicks. At all.

In other circumstances I would have culled that hen as soon as I noticed that behavior. But she was my best egg-layer, every laying hen counted during the Corona Crisis, and the confinement prevented me from giving her to a farmer who would have better handled her. So I kept her, and tried to correct this reintegration process that clearly had gone wrong somewhere.

3 months of separation (both juveniles and adults), multiple feeding attempts, three new roosts and even 1 week of 'jail' (broody area) for my Plymouth later, she is still incorrigible in that domain. She will chase out my pullet and cockerel from the coop and away from any treats I give the flock when I come check them over. What's worse, her persistent bad temper over the chicks has infected the rest of the flock, including the mother herself who now pecks at her own brood if they dare to eat in her presence.

So my question is: how on earth can you correct severe bulliement in your chickens if taking the culprits out of the flock is not an option? I only have 6 hens and I rely on them, plus my new pullet, to last me through the Corona Crisis (and, subsequently, through a part of wintertime). Starting my flock from scratch is the easiest solution, but chickens have become very sought after animals over the last months so they're quite hard to find nowadays. Is there anything left to do to possibly salvage my Plymouth, beyond reluctantly sending her to an early grave?

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I am sorry you’re having such difficulties. Chicken integration can be hard. I actually ended up selling two of my meaner bullies when they were terrorizing the younger ones and have had a very harmonious flock since then. It may be a drastic measure for some but it worked for me.

 

[aart]

We have a large winter coop and a smaller summer coop that we can move around the yard.

'Large' and 'small' is relative but need true scale.
Dimensions and pics would help here.

How old, in months, are all these birds?
How and when did you introduce this new bird?
Low hen in existing flock is almost always the most aggressive to new birds.
First thought is to lock the bully in the small coop and see how the others get along with the new bird....but then bully is still low bird.
Might have to do some chicken juggling, mixing and matching who is with whom in the 2 setups to throw wrench in the pecking order.

This might help too:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock.71997/

Always good to keep in mind the.....
Integration Basics:
It's all about territory and resources(space/food/water).
Existing birds will almost always attack new ones to defend their resources.
Understanding chicken behaviors is essential to integrating new birds into your flock.

Confine new birds within sight but physically segregated from older/existing birds for several weeks, so they can see and get used to each other but not physically interact.

In adjacent runs, spread scratch grains along the dividing mesh, best if mesh is just big enough for birds to stick their head thru, so they get used to eating together.

The more space, the better. Birds will peck to establish dominance, the pecked bird needs space to get away. As long as there's no copious blood drawn and/or new bird is not trapped/pinned down and beaten unmercilessly, let them work it out. Every time you interfere or remove new birds, they'll have to start the pecking order thing all over again.

Multiple feed/water stations. Dominance issues are most often carried out over sustenance, more stations lessens the frequency of that issue.

Places for the new birds to hide 'out of line of sight'(but not a dead end trap) and/or up and away from any bully birds. Roosts, pallets or boards leaned up against walls or up on concrete blocks, old chairs tables, branches, logs, stumps out in the run can really help. Lots of diversion and places to 'hide' instead of bare wide open run.
Good ideas for hiding places:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[Aequacheek]

I don't have measurements but I have pictures. This is the summer coop



And the winter coop:



For 4 chickens I think this is plenty. They free range all day in my yard and have plenty of hidey holes in the garden and rasperry patch. The bad behavior is mostly when food is offered and at nighttime when Beatrice has to choose a coop. But inversely, some nights the bully will choose one coop by herself while the rest of the flock takes another with Beatrice. It's just so bizarre.

But in more encouraging news, I have a line-up of dustbathing chickens and they seem to do fine with one another! (Bea is the first one from the bottom, the bully is the other red chicken)

 

[Allthefloofs]

I am definitely not an expert or anything, but I can tell you what has worked for us in the past. For reference, we had an introduction of three pullets to three established layers, then a few months later we had a single intro to the flock of 6. Each time we had a tough time with the lowbies in the pecking order taking it out on the new ones. First was our Delaware, she was the lowest out of the three and she was a feather puller and was quick with her face knife on the new girls. The second time was our GLW, who is the new bottom of the pecking order. I was lucky enough to be able to put in a modified dog door between the larger run and a smaller one we have set up and I ranged them separately for a while, the same setup I did for the singleton. After seeing their interactions through the hardware cloth settle down and noticing there was a lot less pecking through the shared wall I would let them range together, giving the new ones/one space to run away and the established girls space to claim as their own if they needed it. Once I saw that they were letting the new chickens range close and not bothering to chase I would set up shop outside with a book and a chair and let them be in the run together for an hour and if things got shady up in there I would then move the new girls to the separated run after a few pecking order confrontations. I was careful to let a series of them happen before I moved them and I was extra careful to watch for blood or too much feather pulling. After a week or so of the daily ranging and one hour pecking order establishment I was able to open the pet door and they would decide how they wanted to interact, with the original girls mostly leaving the newbies alone. There were definitely pecking order squabbles and it took a few months for everyone to sleep together, but now they have worked it out amicably and are very close. Each introduction took 3-4 months for a full return to normal flock behavior (roosting together), but the worst of it was over in about a month and a half. Good luck! I really found the process fascinating. I was really interesting to watch the behavior of the flock. As an interesting side note, our Delaware moved up in the flock after merging the pullets in, but our GLW is still the lowest on the pecking order even though the chicken we introduced was a Polish, who are known to be low on the pecking order, she is somewhere in the middle.

 

[Eelantha]

@aart - you're right, this is the second time my lowest hen of the moment became the most aggressive to new additions in the flock. I had a year-old Silkie last year who took out her anger on my three Ameraucana chicks from then, and all three of them went feral when I added more pullets barely two months later. My blue Ameraucana was the worst, chasing the new arrivals all over the place and pulling/eating their feathers. My Plymouth Rock from now was her favorite target, come to think of it. Now it's her turn to be an aggressive bully, and I really don't like her attitude towards my new chicks.

If the lowest hen of a flock is bound to be the most aggressive to newcomers, should I get rid of the omega lady of the moment whenever I enter new birds, or will the second lowest flock member turn aggressive in her stead if the hen below her is no longer there to get angry?

@Allthefloofs - I have two runs but only one coop. My second one, which had been renovated from a pony stall, would have seen its first use this spring to host the younger birds and make the integration easier, but water somehow found its way into the walls and made the whole thing moldy. As a result, I could separate my birds during the day in the enclosures, but at nighttime the chicks had a hard time finding a safe place to sleep. Five months later, they still do.

My Plymouth does not tolerate their presence. Be it in the coop, the run or anywhere else, the only thing that keeps them safe from her are the fences when I separate them. Otherwise, she will walk around the yard alike any other bird and, when she spots a youth, she'll run after them. She'll also jump on the roosts they're on and take them down from them. Same thing for the food - she'll attack them if they're trying to feed. I also have to watch my steps when i enter the run because the girl will literally walk on my shoes and shadow my legs, keeping watch of me to make sure the chicks don't get any treats I might throw their way. Their only blessing is that she can't be at two places at once, so if one of the chicks gets chased, the other has a chance to go nab some grain while she's distracted. She'd aware of this, too, and when I throw two treats at once to confuse her, she angles for the one going for the chicks so she can peck the daylights out of them and nab the food at the same time. Even if doing so takes her to the opposite side of the run.

I just... don't know what to do anymore to break her out of that trait. She's like a completely different hen from the chick I've raised last spring. I used to blame my angry Silkie for making a bully out of my blue Ameraucana, who in turn made a bully out of my Plymouth, but if the root of the problem is that the lowest hen of the flock always gets territorial with new arrivals, then by god I'll make sure to get rid of the omega hen of my future flocks to avoid a repeat of that disaster, be they good, bad, strong or sick. Lesson learned here three times over, I've about had it with nasty tempers!

 

[Allthefloofs]

@aart - you're right, this is the second time my lowest hen of the moment became the most aggressive to new additions in the flock. I had a year-old Silkie last year who took out her anger on my three Ameraucana chicks from then, and all three of them went feral when I added more pullets barely two months later. My blue Ameraucana was the worst, chasing the new arrivals all over the place and pulling/eating their feathers. My Plymouth Rock from now was her favorite target, come to think of it. Now it's her turn to be an aggressive bully, and I really don't like her attitude towards my new chicks.

If the lowest hen of a flock is bound to be the most aggressive to newcomers, should I get rid of the omega lady of the moment whenever I enter new birds, or will the second lowest flock member turn aggressive in her stead if the hen below her is no longer there to get angry?

@Allthefloofs - I have two runs but only one coop. My second one, which had been renovated from a pony stall, would have seen its first use this spring to host the younger birds and make the integration easier, but water somehow found its way into the walls and made the whole thing moldy. As a result, I could separate my birds during the day in the enclosures, but at nighttime the chicks had a hard time finding a safe place to sleep. Five months later, they still do.

My Plymouth does not tolerate their presence. Be it in the coop, the run or anywhere else, the only thing that keeps them safe from her are the fences when I separate them. Otherwise, she will walk around the yard alike any other bird and, when she spots a youth, she'll run after them. She'll also jump on the roosts they're on and take them down from them. Same thing for the food - she'll attack them if they're trying to feed. I also have to watch my steps when i enter the run because the girl will literally walk on my shoes and shadow my legs, keeping watch of me to make sure the chicks don't get any treats I might throw their way. Their only blessing is that she can't be at two places at once, so if one of the chicks gets chased, the other has a chance to go nab some grain while she's distracted. She'd aware of this, too, and when I throw two treats at once to confuse her, she angles for the one going for the chicks so she can peck the daylights out of them and nab the food at the same time. Even if doing so takes her to the opposite side of the run.

I just... don't know what to do anymore to break her out of that trait. She's like a completely different hen from the chick I've raised last spring. I used to blame my angry Silkie for making a bully out of my blue Ameraucana, who in turn made a bully out of my Plymouth, but if the root of the problem is that the lowest hen of the flock always gets territorial with new arrivals, then by god I'll make sure to get rid of the omega hen of my future flocks to avoid a repeat of that disaster, be they good, bad, strong or sick. Lesson learned here three times over, I've about had it with nasty tempers!

Oh man! I really feel for you. It is hard flock management when you have one who won't settle down. I think not having the secondary space to fully house them is a very tough situation, I can easily see how that would make problems because there is always a time the bully can get to the littles. I really, really hope you find a solution! The only other thing I can think of is basically "time out" which I did have to do with our Delaware when she was ripping feathers out of our Super blue with prejudice and would not stop. I also had to do it with the Super blue later when she was pulling feathers out of our Polish the first month or so. I would pick her up and stick her in a dog crate if she didn't stop after the first pass. She basically got a freebie and then off to the crate for 20 minutes. I don't know if anyone else has done that, it worked for my cats so I tried it with her but I don't know if she settled because of that or just time.
I am sorry this is so stressful for you. It is really clear that you want the best for everyone and just want them to get along. I hope someone here can give you advice that works well for you. Keep us updated if you can!